Interim Report – June 2016 #1 (1.6.16)

UNITED KINGDOM

Equine Herpes Virus -1 (EHV-1) Neonatal Foal Respiratory Disease

On 1st June 2016, the Animal Health Trust reported two cases of EHV-1 respiratory disease in a two-day-old foal and mare on premises in Kent. The positive diagnoses were confirmed by qPCR on fetal tissues, following humane euthanasia of the foal and a nasopharyngeal swab from the mare. EHV-1 DNA was detected at high levels in fetal tissues, and at low levels in the nasopharyngeal swab. Biosecurity measures have been implemented, including further serological monitoring and will continue as required.

The Animal Health Trust is a veterinary charity, based in Suffolk, which offers clinical referral services and diagnostic testing for horses, dogs and cats in East Anglia, across the UK and internationally. Through its research programmes it develops new diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines to help thousands of animals.